House Expands Aid for Brain Injuries
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
8 April 2008
Associated Press Newswires
(c) 2008. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Tuesday to expand research into and surveillance of traumatic brain injuries, which affect some 1.5 million Americans every year and have come to be the signature wound of the war in Iraq. It also moved to ensure that all newborns get adequate screening for genetic or metabolic diseases.
The brain trauma bill, passed 392-1 by the House, closely mirrors legislation already approved by the Senate, and the Senate is expected to act soon to send it to President Bush for his signature.
The legislation authorizes National Institutes of Health programs through fiscal year 2011 and directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a study into national traumatic brain injury trends and identify treatments. It also supports Health Resources Service Administration grants to fund state projects to improve access to rehabilitation.
It commissions a study into military personnel who have incurred traumatic brain injuries while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, examining how they are being reintegrated into their communities.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., a chief sponsor of the bill, said up to two-thirds of those wounded in Iraq have injuries affecting the brain, and many, especially those from the National Guard and the Reserves, have to turn to civilian care because their injuries are initially misdiagnosed or go undiagnosed.
With the act, Pascrell said, "the House is giving a voice to the millions of brain-injured Americans suffering from this silent epidemic."
Studies show that every year 1.5 million people in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury from traffic and sports accidents, falls or violence, resulting in 50,000 deaths and 235,000 hospitalizations. Brain injury costs are estimated at $60 billion a year or more.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the programs included in the bill will cost the federal government $1.5 billion in the 2008-2012 period. The NIH estimates that it will spend $352 million for trauma-related activities in the fiscal year that ended last September.
The legislation, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, expands on a program first enacted by Congress in 1996.
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The brain trauma bill is S. 793.
